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Friday, January 30, 2009

'Militarybrats do it better'

When I was in law college, the sticker on my car went something like this : “Armybrats do it better !”. And indeed, sons and daughters of military officers have done us proud. I’m listing out some such famous military brats and readers are requested to add into the list for the benefit of all of us. Thanks to people who have sent this in. Frankly there are some names which I haven’t heard in the past and there are others about whom I’m not too sure whether they actually are military brats or not, please throw more light if you find any discrepancy. Thanks.

Here is my list, please add in yours :


Manasi Scott
Jyoti Randhawa
Chitrangada Singh
Anirban Lahiri
Jeev Milkha Singh
Nikita Anand
Priyanka Chopra
Neha Dhupia
Aishwarya Rai
Sushmita Sen
Gul Panag
Karen Lunell
Arti Gupta Surendranath
Parmeshwar Godrej
Upneet Pannu
Shyamolie Verma
Arpana Sharma
Sharon Clarke
Renuka Shahane
Amala Akkinenei
Shilpa Saklani
Lara Dutta
Manpreet Brar
Celina Jaitley
JJ Vallaya
Arjun Rampal
Gauri Khan
Preity Zinta
Mohnish Bahl
Nirupama Rao
Mayanti Langer
Shireen Bhan
Anushka Sharma
Mandira Bedi
Gul Panag
Minisha Lamba
Anupama Verma
Poonam Dhilon
Kim Sharma
Aman Verma
Shiney Ahuja
Rajiv Khandewal
Karan Thapar
Arun Sarin
Sabir Bhatia
Vinod Khosla
Juhi Chawla
VJ Juhi
VJ Cyrus Sahukar

83 comments:

Unknown said...

Tarun Tahiliani son of Adm Thiliani

Anonymous said...

Ran Vijay, of MTV Rodies Fame, son of a serving Major General

Anonymous said...

I dont think Aiswarya Rai is one!

Anonymous said...

Aishwarya Rai's father was in mar cent Navy?

Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh said...

According to many, Aishwarya's father was an MCPO in the Navy before joining the Merchant Navy.
Anyone with more info on this ?

Anonymous said...

Ayesha Julka is the daughter of Wg Cdr Julka, Rini Simon(News reader) daughter of Wg Cdr Simon, Minister Renuka Choudhary (Air Cmde Rao),...probably the list is endless. Navdeep you are absolutely right.

Anonymous said...

Renuka Choudhry, the firebrand union minister is one.

Anonymous said...

Dilip Tahil ,son of Wg Cdr Tahiliani.I remember very clearly as he had come along with Amitabh Bachhan for his marriage to AVM Nair's daughter at Air Force Officer's Mess & everyone falling over each other to get Amitabh Bachhan's autograph .Bachhan had to leave early coz of this.

Anonymous said...

You can add:-
Renuka Chowdhary
Marut Sikka
Jagjit Singh
Brahamjit Singh

Anonymous said...

Ran Vijay too

Anonymous said...

Navdeep,

One the famous man, Mr Billimoria of Cobra Beer and Chairman Indi- British Trading Council, is son of Lt Gen FN Billimoria.

There are many in the Armed Forces itself like Air Marshall Bewoor, son of Gen Bewoor...

Anonymous said...

Dear Navdeep,
Please add the following
(a) Arun Sarin, Ex CEO of Vodaphone & also an alumnus of Military School Bangalore.

(b) Actress Asin (though not an armed forces brat)- Alumnus of NPS, Kochi

(c) Maninder Singh (though not an armed forces brat)- Alumnus of AFBBS Delhi

(d) Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra (of Rang de Basanti fame, though not an armed forces brat)Alumnus of AFBBS Delhi

(e) Pooja Batra

(f) Maneka Gandhi

Anonymous said...

Add Ashok Kamte also

Anonymous said...

1. Lord Karan Bilimoria, son of Lt. Gen. F. Bilimoria.

2. K. Digvijay Singh, first CEO of Zee TV, and also CEO of Indian Express Group, currently CEO of NEO Sports (which bring you all your cricketing entertainment in India). Son of Lt. Gen. K. Mahendra Singh.

3. Wajahat Habibullah (CIC)

Anonymous said...

Isn't most of the NDTV gang 'SODA/SOSA' crowd too?I think most of the anchors there come from fauji background.Pranav Roy,Vishnu Som,Avdhut Patankar,Barkha Dutt etc.Those who know the exact details can elucidate.

robin said...

Rajiv Chandrasekhar well Known Industrialist and Member of Rajya Sabha. He is also one of those in the forefront of a Martyrs memorial being constructed in Bangalore by the BJP Govt

Anonymous said...

dear sir

What a morbid pleasure does one derive in branding brats as military brats, civilian brats, muslim brats, scientist brats, politician brats, pb3 brats, pb4 brats etc, the list can go on endlessly.

I am not really sure if all armed Forces Personnel are really deriving any pleasure out of such information.

Brats are brats and they all are good, without them there really would'nt be any happiness or progress ,whether military or non military.

Let us stop this categorisation of brats, as we categorise equipments in the Services.

Food for thought

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Air Mashl Carriyappa son of Field Marshal cariyappa

avicat said...

Some notable execptions are
Jimmy Shergill
Karan Thapar
V Vaidyanathan, ED ICICI Bank

Anonymous said...

Deepak Chopra s/o Col HL Chopra(AMC)
Tarun Tejpal(s/o an ASC Offr)
Rahul Kanwal (s/o Brig Gurmeet Kanwal)

Anonymous said...

menaka gandhi d/o col anand

Anonymous said...

Navdeep

Way to go

Don't mind the Annony @ January 30, 2009 12:44 PM

Anonymous said...

Jackie Shroff - son of a naval officer

Anonymous said...

HOW MANY OF THESE GUYS HAVE STOOD UP FOR THE FORCES?EVER HEARD THEM SPEAK FOR US?????????????MAJOR NAVDEEP,THIS WOULD MAKE INTERESTING READING AS TO WHAT THESE GUYS WHO ARE IN INFLUENTIAL POSITIONS HAVE DONE FOR THE BETTERMENT OF FAUJ TO WHICH THEY OWE MUCH OF THEIR SUCCESS.............THE ANSWER IS "FEW"...........WE SHOULD TELL OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS ABOUT THE HARDSHIPS WE FACE...........ANY WAYS,WHY BLAME THE BRATS????????HOW MANY RETIRED FAUJIS WHO ARE IN INFLUENTIAL POSITIONS HAVE SPOKEN FOR THE FAUJ????????MAJOR NAVDEEP,,,,,,,,,I REQUEST YOU TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ON THIS........WE NEED TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE OF RETIRED PERSONNEL SUFFERING FROM APATHY

Anonymous said...

Top Gun said
Dress Desiner Shabri Dutt d/o AMC officer.
Film actress Sonu Walia D/o Armed Corps Officer.
National Hockey Goalkeeper Negi ...on him movie Chak de India is made.
They all studied in KV Babina... Where Jyoti And his brother Bunti Randhava Learnt their basic lessons of Golf

Anonymous said...

some mil brats whom i know are ~ 1.Radha Saluja actress 2.Sanjay and Rajat Kathuria played TT for India for many years. 3.Kiran Wadekar another womens TT player of repute. 4.Vidyarthi actor who normally acts as a villain. 5.i think even Neetu Singh is an army brat.

Anonymous said...

Kiran Kher
Pooja Batra

Saji Mohan ?????? :)(IPS Drug Scandal)

Anonymous said...

Yes, aishwarya,s father was Chief ERA(CPO) in Navy prior to joining the Merchant navy and was under me on board INS Deepak in the year 1968-69.

Anonymous said...

Sonali Bendre d/o MCPO Bendre at Goa and Manish Behl s/o Cdr Behl (servered on board INS Vikrant)

Anonymous said...

abhinav tyagi

Anonymous said...

Sherlyn Chopra of NDTV Profit

Anonymous said...

shiv aroor, gaurav sawant, anubha bhonsle are also few leading ones in media

Anonymous said...

list should be compiled with details of the parents and particulars of children which make them famous. Some names mentioned are unfamiliar

Anonymous said...

btw who is mansi scott?

Anonymous said...

Ritu Dhillon D/O Brig Dhillon

Anonymous said...

The Bhan sisters, Shireen n not sure of the other on NDTV Profit.

Anonymous said...

preeti sagar ("my heart is beating" song fame), simi grewal (!), Major NAVNEET SINGH who owns/runs this site

Anonymous said...

Aranab Goswami of 'Times Now' is also a son of an Army Officer.

Anonymous said...

@11.56
u r right but its NAVDEEP not NAVNEET

Anonymous said...

yeah..ms Bhumika Chawla Aka Bhupinder film actress d/o Col chawla a sig officer settled in devlali.

manohar said...

what about Nitu Sing?
Jootu Boley Kowa Kate girl from Bobby

Puneet said...

How many of them have excelled OUTSIDE of the fashion/glam/movies frat? Not to denigrate these professions but ....

Anonymous said...

ritu beri d/o col beri

Unknown said...

karan thapar

Unknown said...

karan thapar

harri said...

add Ritu Beri d/o Brig Beri

Anonymous said...

Not many of these brats wear their armed forces background on their sleeve.In fact some like Ms aishwarya rai has never revealed their "forces" relation.It's time for these guys who owe at least a part of their success to the defence background they come from to stand up and be counted

Anonymous said...

Monisha Oberoi Zee News Anchor daughter of Brig Nasa

Anonymous said...

my dear sirs why r u forgetting Ms Preety Zienta d/o lt col Zienta of Army Service Corps

Anonymous said...

Add Shiney Ahuja - although he seriosly needs to know how to act.

Unknown said...

who sed aishwarya rai is frm a defence backgrnd...she isnt.....vj nikhil chinappa(m tv) is frm the defence backgrnd.priety zinta is again frm d defence backgrnd..but hw many of us hav ever herd dem speak for the fauji....im afraid none of dem hav ever had...i strongly urge dem to do sum gud for our armed forces....

Harish said...

Arjun Rampal is not really an army brat. However his grand parents from both sides were in the army. Maternal grandfather,Brig Gurdial Singh Dhillon, was from the Artillery, .

Anonymous said...

Anubha Bhosle (Ex NDTV now CNN IBN) D/o Brig Bhosle.

Unknown said...

Gul Panag appears twice on the list.

Unknown said...

Ayesha Julka.. d/o Air Cmde Julka

Unknown said...

Father of Aishwarya rai never served in Indian Navy.

Unknown said...

Add Rahul Kanwal of Headlines today.. s/o Brig Gurmeet Kanwal

Unknown said...

Col Rajeev Shukla (Retd) NDTV 24x7

Anonymous said...

sonu walia and her sister monu walia

diju kaushal sreedharan said...

what about chetan bhagat???army brat or what?????

Anonymous said...

Kim Sharma is not an army brat

Anonymous said...

shaili chopra

Harini Tripathi said...

pushkar Sunanda of Tharoorgate fame. Shez a dot a Lt col (retd) and sis of a serving col.
howzzat!!!

Ab said...

Sunil chhetri, indian football player

manmeet singh said...

hi
i am merchant navy officer..aishwayas father was not in indian navy..as told by ashwarya herself on television..when some news channel by mistake told that ashs father is in navy..she told herself that her father is in merchant navy..i would also like to inform that indian navy guys are seidom found on big ships(good companies)..because there experience is on small warships..and no cargo handling expereince(which is a important part of a navigating officer)and also there officer licence is restricted..inrespect of tonnage and area..in merchant navy ship of 300000tonnes can have a captain as young as 28 years(pay 6 to 7 lac rs a month)..whereas on warship of 2000 tonnes ship will have a capt of 40+(60000rs)..

hari said...

@ Manmeet Singh. Its sad that you quantify the security of the nation with money. I have heard enough channel 16 call from skippers on these 30,000 ton ships earning 6-7 lakh/month asking for help from us 2,000 ton ship skippers and like always we will be there ...to help without any thought of monetary benefit but because t makes a difference ...at least to the nation. So buddy u go ahead counting ur dollars, but I still love my country.

hari said...

@manmeet .. Kya huya bolti bandh.. Hope ur not on one of the merchant vessels sinking off the dolphin asking for help once again. Starboard is to the right btw and pls maintain correct mmb channels.

k said...

Unfortunately we are in a country where the 'fauj' have a British hangover and the politicians are too busy either getting a 400% pay hike or selling toilet paper @ 3700/ roll. So how and why do we expect d fauji brats to do anything or rather why should we. We don't req them.. Stand tall.. chin high.. Chest inflated ...be proud for what u are ... a pure breed. Its good that fauji kids are doing so well...but we can stand our own ground. btw after all that gyan.. Renuka shahne is a naval officer's (cmde shahne) child. Met her and dad way back in 89 or so in dabolim

Anonymous said...

amazing your sense of statistics is! if you were to draw of a comprehensive list of achievers, you will find the progeny of civilians outnumber and outweigh def kids in achievment.

Anonymous said...

As VC of a University in CG am keen to initiate research on contribution of military brats to bollywood/media. Does an association/group of military brats exist so that these individual can be contacted?. Do write in at : brig_bsm@yahoo.com

Beniwal said...

mr. manmeet, just tell which are the big shipping companies you are talking about. i will tell you the names of ex-navy officers served as Captains and C/E on more than 30000T ships in those companies. i am sure when they served you were perhaps not even born/joined merchant navy. as someone said earlier remember its military navies of nations who save you lives at sea.the dollors wount help you.

Unknown said...

hey...looking for whereabouts of upneet pannu...we were in college together in chandigarh....

Anonymous said...

Is this a blogpost or a site for anyone who cannot curb his doggerel???
- Many of us are third generation in the armed forces - but have never thought in this divisive way.
- Our kids excel not solely because they are OUR KIDS - but primarily because the country spends oodles providing those facilities and opportunities that our kids are able to use - at the expense of many lesser priviliged millions.
- So spare a thought before you gloat over others who are less fortunate and privileged.
- Adding those who have merely studied in some army/navy/air force school seems to be an attempt at elitism.
- It is almost akin to that silly refrain one keeps hearing in the army especially, about 'bloody civilians'. By the way, our wives, at times our children and parents are all civilians. But are we an armed forces left behind by the Brits to keep the bloody natives in line or are we the armed forces of a democratic India? If its the latter, then be proud of our diversity.

Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh said...

@Anony at 11.25 PM

Hey, don't read too much into an innocent blogpost.



I wonder why you, without looking through any of the other posts, went straight into the one on militarybrats. It seems almost as if you were browsing the net for this information.

Relax and do not overinterpret.

Thanks

corona8 said...

@Anonymous January 30, 2009 10:12 AM: "...Maninder Singh (though not an armed forces...)...."
So??
Let's start a blog post on Non-Military brats :-)

Namrata Singh said...

Nirupama Menon Rao (current Ambassador of India to the United states of America), D/O Colonel P.V.N. Menon.

Anonymous said...

sir,
toll tax was charged to me at Khedshivapur Toll Plaza NH - 4 when i was travelling in own car though showed my credential as an Army Officer subsequently on persuing the case i referred to all the letters mentioned in your site. The toll authorities now asking for copies of those letters which i am not able to locate. Please advice.

Anonymous said...

Dear Sir,

Leave alone the military brats. the so called military officers when retired and joined a civil service due to their serving in the military, shows ignorance of their earlier loyalties. I have an example of such an officer who by virtue of being an ex military officer enjoying the perks and priviledges in the Govt services said " I am not paid by the Military, I am now paid by the State Govt hence I do not know you whether you are an exserviceman or else."

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous
I am also an army brat. First thing first, army brats is the term used for children of the personnel from all countries. They are famous because of their outgoing nature and independent lifestyle.
Indian Army brats are more often used to royal treatment given by their father's orderlies. They are the ones who judge people on their clothes, used to being driven around by Army Gypsys. Most Army Officer's children differentiate their friends as officer's kids and non-officer's kids and avoid mingling with the latter ones. I have seen this psyche in people in their late adulthood as well.
Indian Army still follows those unwritten laws and code of conduct laid by the British Officers on Indian soldiers.
Yes as far as physical standards are concerned Army brats are comparatively fitter as compared to their civil counterparts, but that is more because of their access to good sports facilities provided by the Army.
As far as success in concerned, it is more of an individual choice than a collective choice. So most of the people mentioned above have achieved success by their own drive rather than being driven by people around them.

Unknown said...

Aishwarya Sakhuja TV actor is daughter of Col SK Sakhuja of Madras Regiment

Anonymous said...

.....immaterial! we r still fiercely proud of our brats (even to the peril of envy from those who aren't).

i rest my case. period.

Anonymous said...

...fierce pride in our profession gives us the moral courage to be rather arrogant and proud of or brats. the organisation not only trains us, but knowingly or unknowingly imparts a lot of values to our kids. u would probably pay through ur nose to learn these at a finishing school.

not surprising, they r sought after during placements in a big way, and r winners all the way.

may God bless them. Amen

Unknown said...

Even MAROOF RAZA is son of a Brigadier. Prasoon Kumar FAUJI INDA magazine